Signaling apparatus



D. B. LOVEJOY.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED luuafzs, 191s.

Patented Apr.

' Y INVENTORI 4% ATTORNEY DIMMITT it. LOVEJQY, on FRENEAU, NEW JnasEsrenALiNe APPARAT S;

Application filed June 26,

' T aZZ whom'it may concern:

Be it known that l, DIMMITT R. LovnJoY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Freneau, Monmouth County, in the State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain'new and useful Improvements in Signaling Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a full, clear,and exact specification.v

This invention relates to improvements in signaling apparatus of thenon-interfering, successive type, such as. are employed for sendingsignals from any one of a plurality of sending stations to a main orreceiving station, and the same has for its object to provide anapparatus of this type which will be efficient and reliable in itsoperation.

Further, said invention has for its object to provide an apparatus ofthis character which will consist of but few parts, and which will besimple in its construction and inexpensive to manufacture. 7

Further, said inventionhas for its object to provide an apparatus ofthis character comprising signal transmitting mechanism, and means forcontrolling the operation thereof.

Further, said invention has for its object to provide an apparatus ofthis character comprising signal transmitting mechanism, movable meansadapted in its operative position to prevent the actuation thereof, andelectro-magnetically controlled means for normally holding said movablemeans in its inoperative position and maintaining the same in saidposition during the actuation of the transmitting mechanism.

Further, said invention has for its object to provide an apparatus ofthis character comprising signal transmitting mechanism, and meansincluding a compoundwound electro-magnet to control the operation of thetransmitting mechanism.

Further, said invention has for its object to provide an apparatus ofthis character comprising means for permitting communication between anyone ofthe sending stations and the receiving station, without danger ofinterference from any of the others of the sending stations.

Other objects will in part be obvious, and V in part be pointed outhereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid object and ends my invention consistsin the novel details of construction, and in the combination, connectionand arrangement of parts Specifieation of Letters Patent. Patented Apr,1922.,

1918.- Serial no. 241,909.

hereinafter more fully. described-and then pointed out'in the claim's.

Referringto the accompanying drawing, illustrating, indiagrammaticform,a signaling apparatus embodying my invention,'the box transmissionmechanism, which may be of any approvedtype, is shown as compris-' ing atransmitter wheel 10 adapted to be driven by a gear train 11 When theoperating lever 12 has been pulled-and released, in the usual manner. 713 and 14 in'dicateelectrical contacts interposed inthe'signalingcircuit and normally maintained in; closed position by reason of theengagement of the con'tact 13 with the periphery of thetran'smitterwheel 10. As the transmitteriwheel 10 rotates, the recesses 15 formed'there'in will permit the contact 13 successively to move out of and intocontact with the contact 14 to open and closethe signaling'circuit .inthe well-knOwrfinanner. It is of course understood, that the recesses 15are'arra-nged to correspond to the number'of. the box. The escapement 16of the box transmission mechanism, which controls the speed of operationof the gear'train"1l,"carries,an

arm 17. Pivotally supported adjacent the free end of the arm 17, is alever '18 having a projection 19 at one end thereof adapted to be movedinto or out of engagement with the free'end of the arm 17, whereby toprevent or permit. the actuation of the ratchet escapement 16 and thegear train 11 con,- trolled thereby. In order to insure that theprojection 19 Willengage the end offlthe arm 17 at one or the o'ther ofthe sides thereof, the projection 19 and the arm 17 are provided withco-acting knife-edges, as shown. I The lever 18 is so mounted andarranged, as for example byweighting its Jmally held in its raisedposition and adapted to be actuated to control the movementof thelever'18 as hereinafter described.

Adjacent its upper'end, the rod 21" is provided with a pin 22, uponwhich rests the free end of a pivotally supportedarmatrue 23, of acompound electro-ma'gnet 24; I having a low resistance winding 25connectv other end, that it normally tends to occupy f t ed in serieswith the normally closed contacts 13, 14, and a high resistance winding26 connected in shunt with the normally closed contacts 13, 14:. finadjustable stop 27 is provided to limit the downward movement of thearmature 23. A spring 28 has one of. its ends connected to the armature23 and its other end connected to a pin 29 carried by the rod 21. At itslower end the rod 21 carries: a pawl 30 which engages the teeth of thegear wheel 31 forming partof a gear train 32 comprising means forretarding the actuation thereof, as, for example, a pinion 33 carryingvanes 34.

35 indicates a telegraph key comprising a contact 36 and a lever 37normally held in engagement withthe contact 36 by means of a spring 38.

One of the conductors 39 of the signaling circuit is connected to thecontact 1 1, and the other conductor 40 of said circuit is connected tothe lever 37 of the telegraph key 35. Afconductor 4&1 connects thecontact 36 of the telegraph key 35 to one end of the series winding 25of the electro-magnet 24:, and the other end of the series winding isconnected to the contact 13 by a conductor 42. I The ends of the shuntwinding 26 are connected to the conductors 39 and 42, by

the conductors'l3 and M respectively.

It is, of course, understoodthat a plurality of signaling apparatus maybe interposed in series in the signaling circuit at diti'erent stations,as is the common practice, and that the construction and wiringconections oi each such apparatus is the same as that above described.

Under normal conditions the telegraph key 35 isclosed and the contacts13 and 1 1 are in contact'witli one another, as hereinabove described,and, therefore, there will be a continuous flow of current through the"following. path z-conductor 4:0, lever 37, contact 36, conductor 4L1,series winding 25 of the electro-magnet 2 1, conductor 42, contacts 13and 14, and conductor39. No current will flow through the shunt winding26 of the electro-magnet 24: as the same is short-circuited by thenormally engaged con tacts 13 and l l. 7 The current flowing through theseries winding energizes the electro-magnet 24 thereby holding itsarmature 23 in its raised position. The spring 28 will hold the rod 21in its raised position in which position the pin 20,. carried therebyand engaging the weighted end of: the lever 18, will hold thelever18 inits inoperative position with the projection 19 at its other end out ofengagement with the end of the arm 17, carried by the ratchetescapement16.

The operation is as follows When a signalis to be sent, the operatinglever 12 of the box transmission mechanism is pulled and released,thereby actuating the tact will drop into the recess and out ofengagement with the contact 14, thereby breakthe signaling circuit atthis point, and compelling the current to flow through the followingpath at the signaling station conductor &0, lever 37, contact 36,-conductor 41, series winding 25, conductor 42, conductor 44, shuntwinding 26, conductor 43, and conductor 39. At all other stations in thesignaling circuit the current will continue to How through its normalpath, in which it passes through the series windings only of the severalelectro-magnets. Owing to the high resistance of the shunt windingthrough which the current now flows at the sending station, the strengthof the current flowing through the signaling circuit will be greatlydecreased, but, owing to the fact that the current at the sendingstation now flows through both the series winding 25 lso and the shuntwinding 26, the energization of the electro-magnet 24 will be suilicientto hold the armature 23 at the sending station in its raised position.The rod 21 will there fore be held in its raised position, and the pin20 carried thereby will hold the leve 18 in its inoperative position.The series winding 25 of the elect-ro-magnet 24 is so proportioned andconstructed that, when the current of decreased strength flowstherethrough, the electro-magnet 24c will not be energized suflicientlyto retain its armature 23 in its raised position, and, consequently, atevery station on the circuit, other than the sending station,thearmature 23 will drop from its normally raised position until itengages the stop 27. As the armature 23, at QiLCll'OYE the otherstations, drops, the rod 21 will move downwardly and the lever 18 willthereupon be permitted to assume its operative position with theprojection 19 engaging the end of the arm 17 carried by the ratchetescapement 16, thereby, preventing the actuation of the same and of thegear train 11 controlled thereby. The downward movement of the rod 21.will also cause the pawl 30 to ride over'the teeth of: the gear wheel'31 and to engage with a tooth below that one with which it engaged,when the rod 21 was in its raised position.

As the transmitter wheel 10 atthe sendin'g station continues to rotate,the contact 13 will ride out of the first of the recesses 15 and willagain come into contact with the contact 14, thereby "short circuiting'the shunt winding 26 of the, electro-magnet-2 l at the sendingstationandpermittingthe full, normal strength of current to again flow through thesignaling circuit. This change in the strength of the current will haveno effect with respect to the sending station, as the armature 23, andits co-acting parts, were maintained in their normal positions when thestrength of the current was reduced; At each of theother stations on thecircuit, however, as soon as the current flowing therethrough assumesits full strength, the armature 23 isimmediately attracted and raised toits normal position. As the armature 23 thus moves to its normalposition, it tends to raise the rod 21 to its normal position by meansof the'spring 28, but the upward movement of the rod 21 is retarded byreason of the fact that the pawl 30 is in engagement with a tooth of thegear wheel 31 of the retarding gear train 32. The rod 21, therefore, hasa slow upward movement and before it can rise sufficiently to move thelever 18 out of locking engagement with the arm 17 of the ratchetescapement 16, the contact 13 at the sending station will have droppedinto the next succeeding one of the recesses 15 of the transmitter wheel10, whereupon the strength of the current in the circuit will again bedecreased, as abovedescribed, as a result of which the armature 23 ateach of the other stations will again drop, and the rod 21 will movefrom its partially raised position to its lowermost position. This operation of the apparatus at the stations other than the sending stationis repeated as the contacts 13 and 1e atthe sending station make andbreak contactwith one another during the rotation of the transmitterwheel 10. The retarding gear train 32 is preferably so constructed, andthe operation thereof is so timed, thatthe time required by the rod 21to rise from its lowermost position to a position in which it willrender the lever 18 inoperative will beat least equal to the timerequired for one complete rotation of the transmitter wheel 10. Thiswill insure that no station on the circuit can interfere with a sendingstation.

\Vhen "the transmitter wheel 10 at the sending station comes to rest,after having sent the signal one or more times, in the usual manner, theengagement of the contact 13with the contact 14% again permits the fullstrength of current to flow through the circuit. The armature 23 at eachof the other stations will be'attracted to its raised position, and therod 21 at each of said stations'will now be permitted to be drawnupwardly to its normal position by the spring 28, whereupon the ,pin 20carried thereby will cause the'lever 18 to assume its inoperativeposition, and a signal may then be sent from any one of the stations'inthe circuit.

If, during the sending of a signal from one of the stations on thecircuit, the operating lever 12 at any other station is pulled andreleased, the transmission mechanism atqsaid other-station can notoperate, as the lever {18 has moved into its operative or lookingposition, as above described, but

after the signal from the sending station has beencompleted, the lockinglever 18 at said other station will be moved to occupy itsinoperativeposition, and, vas soon as this occurs, the transmission ,7 mechanism atsaid other station will thereupon be free to op-. erateto send a signal.e

f. Ifthe fire chief, or' any other authorized person,.wishes tocommunicate withheadquarters, he can do so by means of the telegraph key35 without danger of interference from any one of these'nding stationson the circuit. .Upon depressing the lever 37, at the beginning of themessage, the signaling circuit is broken between the lever 37 andcontact36 and the armature 23 at each stationdrops, thus causing thelever 18 to lock the transmission mechanism ateach station againstoperation, as above described. During the sending of the message the interval of time between the letters or words transmitted will not besufficient to permit the bars 21 at the several stations to risesufficiently to cause the levers 18 to move to their unlockingpositions, and therefore, the

sending of the message cannot be interfered comprising a signaltransmiting mechanism, means movable into and out of operative relationto said transmitting mechanism to control the actuation thereof, meansresponsive to an electriccurrent for normally holding said movable meansin its ,inopera- I tive position and adapted to permitsaid 1 movablemeans to assume its operative position when the current strength isdecreased below a predetermined value, and

means co-acting with said holding means to maintain said movable meansin its inoperative position when the current strength is so decreased,substantially as specified.

2. An apparatus of the class described comprising a signal transmittingmocha nism provided with a normally closed make and break device,electro-magnetic means comprising a C 01l 1n series wlth said make and;break device, and a coil in parallel with said make and break deviceand in series with said first-named coil, and means controlled by saidelectro-magnetic means controlling the operation ofsaid transmittingmechanism, substantially as fied.

An apparatus of the class described comprisin a signal transmittingmechanism provided with a normally closed make and break device,electro-magnetic means comprising a low resistance coil in series withsaid make and break device, and a high resistance coil in parallel withsaid make and break device and in series with said low resistance coiland means controlled" by specisaid electro-magnetic means forcontrolling the operation of said transmitting mechanism, substantiallyas. specified.

Signed at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York this5th day of June, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen.

DiMMiTT n. LOVEJOY.

Witnesses: V

V CONRAD A. DIETELRICI-I,

WVILLIAM PJJoNEs.

